A residential shower may be installed at the corner of two existing walls which typically extend between the floor and ceiling of a bathroom. In one common type of installation, such a shower is enclosed by installing a partition structure having two sides wherein one of the partition sides extends out from one of the existing corner walls, and the other of the partition sides extends out from the other existing corner wall so that the two partition sides meet and are connected at a vertical corner. The conventional enclosure partition structure typically includes (a) a vertical wall frame member (i.e., “wall jamb”) mounted to one of the existing corner walls, (b) another wall jamb mounted to the other existing corner wall, (c) a vertical, outside, corner frame member (i.e., a “corner post”), (d) a pair of horizontal, bottom frame members (i.e., “sills”) connected with an internal connecting bracket, (e) a pair of horizontal, top frame members (i.e., “headers”) connected with an internal connecting bracket), and (f) glass or plastic panels extending between the sills and headers. Such a typical shower enclosure usually includes one or more glass panels that occupy most of the height and width of the one partition side, and includes a glass panel door which comprises some or most of the height and width of the other partition side.
A shower can also be installed at the corner of a room over a bathtub wherein the head or faucet end of the bathtub is located against one of the existing corner walls, and one side of the bathtub is located against the other of the existing corner walls. The foot end of the bathtub and the other side of the bathtub may be exposed to the interior of the room. In such a design, the shower and inside area of the bathtub can be enclosed with two partition sides—one partition side extending from one of the existing walls and running along the top of the free side of the bathtub, and the other partition side extending from the other existing wall and running along the top of the foot end of the bathtub so as to define, in conjunction with the room's two, existing, corner walls, a rectangular enclosure. The partition structure on the bathtub includes the above-described wall jambs, corner post, sills, and headers. The partition structure on the side of the bathtub typically includes a door system which may consist of a pair of bypass, sliding doors or perhaps a flexible, accordion type door.
As described above, conventional partition enclosures for either an existing corner wall shower installation, or an existing corner wall tub/shower installation typically include a number of different frame members, one or more fixed glass panels, and at least one door. Installation of such conventional enclosure systems typically requires precise measurements to be made and precise cuts to be made on lengths of at least some of the frame stock pieces in order to provide headers having the appropriate lengths for installation.
A manufacturer of a partition shower enclosure system typically provides each of the two, vertical jambs manufactured to a standard height (e.g., 60 inches, 72 inches, etc.).
The manufacturer typically furnishes each of the two, bottom sills to the installer pre-cut so that each sill has one mitered end and has a length corresponding to one of several standard size enclosure configurations.
The horizontal, top, frame members for the headers are each furnished by the manufacturer with one mitered end, but the manufacturer typically provides each such mitered header to the installer in an “over cut” condition wherein each header is somewhat longer than the corresponding sill at the bottom. As will next be explained, this provides the installer with the capability for making precise length adjustments to the headers in the field (i.e., at the installation site) in order to accommodate variations in the existing, vertical corner walls which may not be straight or plumb along their heights.
The installer first secures the mitered ends of the bottom, horizontal sills together with an internal corner bracket that has two legs—one leg extending into the mitered end of one sill, and the other leg extending into the mitered end of the other sill. A typical, conventional bracket is a flat aluminum angle with unthreaded bores in each leg. Each sill mitered end is slid onto a leg of the corner bracket. Each sill is open along the bottom. From the underside of the subassembly of the bracket and two sills, the installer can drill through the exposed, corner bracket bores into a mounting surface inside the sill to provide tap holes for screwing each leg of the corner bracket to the sill. The connected sills are then anchored to the floor or curb (or bathtub) at the appropriate location so that each sill extends to one of the wall jambs.
The installer next installs the vertical frame members or wall jambs—one jamb mounted vertically to one existing corner wall and extending down into one of the sills, and one jamb mounted vertically to the other existing corner wall and extending down into the other sill. Then the stationary glass panel is placed in one of the sills and adjacent jamb. The corner post is then properly positioned on the connected corner of the sills and along the vertical margin of the stationary glass panel in a vertical, plumb orientation so that accurate measurements can be taken along the tops of the components from each existing corner wall to the corner post. Because each header has been provided by the manufacturer with one corner miter cut end and with a length greater than the length of the corresponding sill, the installer must cut each header to the proper length by cutting away a portion of the non-mitered end of the header so that the cut end can properly abut one of the existing corner walls. After each of the two headers has been cut to the proper length, a corner bracket (e.g., a flat aluminum angle with unthreaded bores) is used to join the two headers together at the miter cut ends. To do this, each header miter cut end is slid onto a leg of the corner bracket. Each header is open along the bottom. From the underside of the subassembly of the bracket and two headers, the installer can drill through the exposed, corner bracket bores into a mounting surface inside the header to provide tap holes for screwing each leg of the corner bracket to the header.
The header subassembly of the bracket and two headers can then be placed on the top of the previously installed wall jambs and panel components, and then secured to the wall jambs and corner post. Then the door assembly can be installed, the strike jamb can be installed, glazing can be installed, a drip rail can be installed, and exposed edges and joints can be caulked.
The above-described conventional partition enclosure and installation method requires proper measurement and cutting by the installer, and this adds to the time and complexity of the installation process. It would be desirable to provide an improved corner connector and method for connecting headers of two sides of a shower enclosure or tub/shower enclosure wherein such an improved method would not require the installer to cut one or more headers in the field at the installation site. Further, it would be desirable to provide such an improved system and installation method that would not require measurements of the components at least along the top of the enclosure.
It would also be advantageous if the same type of improved corner connector could also optionally be used to connect sills at the bottom of the enclosure.
The present invention provides an improved corner connector and method for connecting headers of two sides of a shower enclosure or tub/shower enclosure wherein the improved connector and method can accommodate designs having the above-discussed benefits and features.